


Holiday Stories

by King_Traegodia, Sylvia_Fey



Series: Malyolpeyt [3]
Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Decorations, Christmas Party, Christmas Special, F/F, F/M, Family Fluff, First Christmas, Gen, M/M, Modern Girl in Skyrim, Multi, Other, Skyrim Romance Mod, Spoilers, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-09-17 22:47:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16983243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/King_Traegodia/pseuds/King_Traegodia, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sylvia_Fey/pseuds/Sylvia_Fey
Summary: Since it's the holidays, I thought it would be a good idea to have a Holiday screenshot chapter along with a little christmas story. ^_^I'm not putting this on the FITN because it wouldn't fit in with what Misty was doing and contains SPOILERS for the story and what happens in FITN. SO! Here's a little Christmas Cheer to make your Holidays bright.





	1. Happy Holidays

Since this is just something I really want to do, I decided to make a completely different set in the series for holiday stories with the group. This does contain some spoilers, so if that's not something you want to read then you don't have to read this, but there are screenshots in this of the holiday parties and shit, so... yeah. 

 

Enjoy ^_^


	2. MERRY CHRISTMAS 2018!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Since it's the holidays, I thought it would be a good idea to have a Holiday screenshot chapter along with a little christmas story. ^_^  
> I'm not putting this on the FITN because it wouldn't fit in with what Misty was doing and contains SPOILERS for the story and what happens in FITN. SO! Here's a little Christmas Cheer to make your Holidays bright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was planning on doing a LOT of screenshots, but with Christmas and family shit I only got a few. There's more on my Facebook in an album marked Skyrim Christmas 2018! Enjoy

"Why are you wearing that again?" Vilkas asked with a raised eyebrow as he lowered the book to his lap. 

Misty blinked at him, looking down at her Christmas outfit as she brushed some flour from the skirt, "because it's Christmas and this is the most Christmasy thing that Skyrim has," she paused, looking up at him with a frown, "and I didn't feel like going back to my world to get Christmas shit. Besides, Courtney said she was bringing decorations to put around the house and I want you to help."

Vilkas snorted, lifting the book back up to continue reading, "I don't understand your Holidays. They seem like an excuse to dress up and flaunt what you have to your family."

Misty rolled her eyes, moving to stand in front of him with her fists on her hips, "you're not even trying and that's not why I like Christmas."

He raised his eyes to look at her before sighing and putting the book back down on his lap, "explain to me then why you drug Sirius and Farkas through the frozen tundra for a fir tree," he said, nodding at the tree sitting against the wall. 

Misty narrowed her eyes at him, "it's not Christmas without a tree."

"Hours, Misty. You had them out in the cold for hours," he said, giving her an annoyed glare.

She frowned at him, "they're Nords. I'm the one that suffered," she grumbled, folding her arms over her chest before a knock at the door brought her attention up, "coming!" When opened the door, giving a loud cry as she and Courtney hugged, "Courtney! I'm so glad you could make it!"

"Me too! I almost didn't," she growled, glancing back at Brynjolf and Raven as they followed close behind with stacked boxes in their arms. 

"Where do you want these, Lass?" Brynjolf asked, looking around the boxes.

"Um, just put them on the floor over there," Misty said, waving toward an empty corner, "you bring the tree stand?"

"I brought everything you text me about and more," Courtney said, both women moving to the boxes. "So, first thing's first."

"The tree," the women said together, giggling as they started to unpack the boxes. 

"You two just saw one another a few days ago, yet you act as though you've been apart for years," Vilkas muttered, reading the book in his hands.

Courtney frowned at him and was about to open her mouth to say something when Misty grabbed her arm, to keep her from saying anything. Courtney sighed, giving Vilkas a glare, "I won't say anything to Scrooge if he won't say anything to me," she said, turning back to lift a string of lights from the box. 

"At least he's reading Christmas Carol," Misty said, getting a sigh and nod from her sister.

"That counts for something, I guess," Courtney muttered, frowning at the lights.

"What are those, exactly?" Raven asked, leaning around Misty to get a look at the lights.

"Christmas lights," Misty said with a smile, lifting another set from the other box, "you brought the generator, right?"

Courtney nodded, "of course. Can't have Christmas without Christmas lights," she said, glancing toward the stairs as the children ran down.

"Aunt Courtney!" Maisha exclaimed, leaping into the woman's arms as she grinned.

"There they are!" Courtney said, giving the little khajiit a hug before putting her down and hugging the girls gathered around her, "I was wondering if Krampus had eaten you or not, you were so quiet."

"Who's Krampus?" Zarain asked, frowning at Courtney.

"Krampus is an evil horned monster that goes with Santa on his sleigh to punish bad boys and girls instead of giving them presents," Courtney explained, leaning down to give Zarain her emotionless smile, "have you been a good boy lately?"

Zarain scowled at her, "Santa isn't real and neither is Krampus."

"Are you sure about that, lad?" Brynjolf asked, giving Courtney a wink, "you never know who might be watching."

Misty rolled her eyes, "actually, Santa was real. He was called Saint Nicholas and went around giving toys to children."

Courtney sighed, "why do you have to ruin it?" she asked, giving her sister an annoyed glare.

Misty snorted, "because he won't believe if you don't tell him something factual," she said, patting Zarain on the head as she moved toward the fireplace with a string of garland. 

"Do you need help, mama?" D'usha asked, tilting his head at the green garland as she tried to drape it over the mantel. 

"I need the tape out of the box under the one your Aunt's rifling through," Misty said, furrowing her brow as another knock came from the door, "oh shit. Someone get the door."

D'usha furrowed his brow at the colored, strangely designed paper and bags in the box, lifting a couple of them up with warriors and strange wizards on it as Sofia answered the door. His attention shot up as Sofia gave a squeal, giggling as Sirius carried her in over his shoulder with Niall and Farkas behind him. 

"Hey, guys!" Misty called, moving to stand behind D'usha before snagging the silver roll of duct tape. 

"Oh... that's tape," D'usha said, giving the roll a raised eyebrow.

Misty chuckled, "that's alright, honey," she said, sliding it onto her arm before heading back to the mantel.

"What're you doing?" Niall asked, moving behind Misty.

"Putting up some decorations," she said, pausing at the sight of Niall's outfit, "what are you wearing?"

He grinned, doing a spin with his arms outstretched, "like it?"

Misty shook her head, "no. I do not," she said, laughing at the frown he gave her. She waved him toward the other side of the mantel, "tape that side up, would ya, fancy pants."

Niall stuck his tongue out at her as he raised the other side of the garland. He furrowed his brow at the string as he held it up, "what is this?"

"Garland. It's a decoration. I have more for the tree... which we've gotta put up," she said, glancing at Farkas and Sirius as Sirius set Sofia down on the ground.

"Come on, boys. Let's get this thing up," Courtney said to Sirius and Farkas, pulling the tree stand from the box and whistling jingle bells as she set it on the ground, "right here, right?"

Misty glanced at the tree stand where Courtney had put it before nodding, "looks good," she said, smiling as Farkas and Sirius moved the tree, following Courtney's instruction to lower it into the stand. 

"Perfect!" she exclaimed, tightening the screws into the tree trunk before crawling out from under it, "yes! Small victories."

"So, we're supposed to decorate it, right?" Niall asked, looking over the tree with narrowed eyes.

"Yep," Courtney said, grabbing a box from the pile, "could you grab that for me, Raven?"

Raven nodded, lifting the box she had nodded at and following her to the tree, "this is a lot of stuff for just a couple days."

"You have no idea," Courtney said, pulling strings of lights and garland from the box and frowning at the tangles, "why the fuck do the lights tangle no matter how nice and pretty you wrap them and put them away?"

Misty chuckled, "it's a curse," she said, laughing at Raven's face paling. "It's not a real curse, Raven. It's just something that _ALWAYS_ happens."

"Maybe it is cursed and she's just putting you at ease, lad," Brynjolf said, slapping his hand down on the Breton's shoulder with a smirk.

"Stop it," Courtney growled at the redhead, glaring at him past a tangle of lights.

"I told you we should have had a Halloween party," Misty said, laughing as Raven frowned at Brynjolf.

"My Goddess would never curse me," Raven growled, shoving Brynjolf's hand off his shoulder as the Nord chuckled.

Misty rolled her eyes as Courtney sighed, "and so it begins."

"Can I help?" Sissel asked, tugging on Courtney's dress.

"Yes, actually. I'm going to need you and your siblings to gather 'round and start putting garland and lights on the tree," Courtney said, getting a grin from the little girl as she ran to gather the other children. 

"What's this?" Farkas asked, lifting the small generator from the box.

"A generator," Courtney said, motioning to a small area, "just put it over there. I brought gasoline for it too so it'll work."

Another knock at the door brought Misty to it, opening it wide when she saw Kieron, Isengrim, Kestrel and Riordan standing at the door, "Merry Christmas!" Misty said loudly, giving them each a hug, "come in, come in. We're getting everything decorated right now. Courtney's about to get the kids on the tree."

"You're putting children on a tree?" Isengrim asked, giving Courtney a raised eyebrow as the children started to gather around her.

Misty laughed, "no, no. We're having the kids decorate the tree. That was always the funnest part of Christmas as a kid," she said, leading them into the house as Riordan closed the door. 

"Riordan. Long time no see!" Sirius said, giving the man a grin and a hug.

Riordan chuckled, hugging him back before they stepped away, "how's being a companion treating you?"

Sirius chuckled, "pretty much how you would think. Lots of fights. Lots of helping people. Lots of killing dragons."

Riordan smiled, patting him on the shoulder, "glad you're enjoying yourself."

"These go around the tree?" Alesan asked, holding up a long strand of silver garland.

"Yep. Around the tree," Courtney said, handing Solitar another strand of silver.

"Bet I can decorate more than you," Solitar muttered to Alesan.

"Nuh uh! I'm going to decorate the crap out of this tree," Alesan growled back as the two started almost jogging around the tree, tossing silver garland over the branches.

"Woah! Slow down there," Kieron said, scooping up each boy with hardly any effort, "I think you're supposed to move slowly."

"Awww, but uncle Kieron," Alesan complained.

"You almost knocked over the tree," Sofia grumbled at her brothers.

"Slow and steady wins the race and keeps the tree from falling into the fire," Misty said as Kieron lowered the boys to their feet. 

"Tortoise and the Hare. Nice," Courtney said, untangling the lights and setting them out on the floor, "you know what we need though?"

Misty gave her sister a raised eyebrow as she went to one of the boxes and lifted a small radio from it, "I hope you brought music. They don't have radios here."

Courtney held up five discs, making Misty smile, "of course."

"Awesome!" Misty exclaimed as Courtney went to the generator and started to jerk on the pull cord.

"Need a hand, lass?" Brynjolf asked, moving to stand almost directly behind Courtney.

"No thanks. I've got it," she said, as the generator kicked on, startling everyone except Misty and Courtney. Courtney set up the radio and inserted one of the CDs, playing [Baby It's Cold Outside sung by Margaret Whiting and Johnny Mercer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Rhvtzzmq-Y), humming along as she went back to untangling garland. 

"You have some interesting contraptions," Riordan said, watching the little lights on the front of the CD player bounce up and down.

"The CD player? It's like ten years old," Courtney said, handing off a string of lights to Ram'ku as someone knocked on the door.

Riordan turned, opening the door to Taliesin, Caranthir and Darrow. He gave the mages a smile as they entered, Darrow rubbing his hands over his arms and he huffed.

"Did you have to pick the coldest city in Skyrim?" the elven scientist complained.

"Winterhold is the coldest City in Skyrim, and you live there," Vilkas said, giving Darrow an annoyed glare before turning back to the book in his hands. 

Farkas and Sirius chuckled at the mage's frown before he caught sight of the CD player sitting on the floor next to the generator, "what's this?" he asked, making Misty smile as she went to greet Taliesin and Caranthir with Nightmare before Christmas's What's this, stuck in her head.

"Caranthir, I'm glad you could make it," she said, giving the man a hug.

"Grandpa Caranthir!" Sher'tul, Shalina and D'usha exclaimed, running to give the older Altmer a hug.

Caranthir chuckled, hugging the children, "well, when Taliesin told me about this strange holiday and tradition from your world, I became curious," he said, glancing over the tree and strange crates as Taliesin gave Misty a hug that almost lifted her from her feet. 

"It's the biggest holiday in our world," Courtney said, lifting Sissel from the ground to place a gold ornament on one of the branches, "people all over the world celebrate it."

"Mostly because that's when they make their biggest sales," Misty grumbled, plucking the CD player from Darrow's hands before he decided to shake it or take it apart, "no touching, Darrow."

Darrow frowned at her, tilting his head as she set it back on the floor, "I was just curious how it works," he grumbled, folding his arms like a pouting child.

"Why don't you help Courtney put up the mistletoe?" Misty suggested, giving her sister's glare a smirk.

"I was going to ask Zarain to help me with that," Courtney said, getting a frown from the boy.

"I'll help," Sirius offered, giving Courtney a smile.

Courtney glared at Misty before shaking her head, "I don't really need any help putting up mistletoe. Misty's just being a pain," she said, pulling a couple bushels of Mistletoe from one of the boxes, "I'm putting these in the most inconvenient places."

Misty laughed as Courtney moved toward the doorway leading into the kitchen, "Brynjolf," she hissed, motioning the man toward her, "you're supposed to kiss people under the mistletoe," she whispered to him, making him smirk.

"Really?" he purred, glancing at Courtney as she stood on a chair to place the mistletoe in the doorway before heading toward her, "need any help, lass?"

Courtney frowned down at him and shook her head, waving him away, "no, I don't. Especially not from you."

"Come on, Courtney," he purred, his hands wrapping around her hips as she scowled down at him, "if you don't need my help putting it up, at least let me help keep you from falling."

Courtney narrowed her eyes at him before giving a snort, "Misty told you what Mistletoe's for or you wouldn't be over here," she growled, making sure the mistletoe was secured to the doorframe. 

"Maybe," he said, grinning at her, "maybe I just want to help you put up a stick with some white berries."

Courtney shook her head and rolled her eyes, "fine, Butch. Help me down then."

Brynjolf smiled that charming smile at her as he helped her down, purposely letting her slide down the front of his body until her feet touched the floor. He leaned down, quickly brushing his lips against her's before releasing her to stand stunned for a second before the frown spread across her mouth and she gave his chest a shove that barely moved him an inch.

"Fucking knew it, jerk," she growled, moving the chair out of the doorway as Misty went to answer the knock at the door. 

Misty gave a shriek as she was swept off her feet and twirled around a couple times before being set back down on her feet, laughing at the Imperial still hugging her, "Wolfe."

Wolfe chuckled, nuzzling her neck, "I missed you," he mumbled against her hair.

Misty rolled her eyes, "we saw each other three days ago before I left to prep Hjerim," she said, smiling up at him as he kissed her forehead.

"I know, but it feels like months," he said with a sigh before glancing around the room, giving Taliesin a frown, "well. If I knew you'd be here and not in some frozen hole, I wouldn't have come."

Taliesin narrowed his eyes at the rogue, "and here I thought you had better things to do, like being some wench's lapdog for the night."

They glared at one another for a few seconds before they both chuckled, gripping one another's forearms in greeting.

"How've you been my friend?" Taliesin asked, getting a tired sigh from the Imperial.

"Same ol' same ol'," Wolfe said, nodding at Taliesin, "you? Still the court wizard?"

"Someone has to be," Taliesin said with a chuckle, giving Hawke a nod of greeting, "how was travel?"

"It would have been better if she had chosen a different city. Like Whiterun," Hawke complained, getting a frown from Misty.

"You're not ruining my Christmas, Hawke. Go suck some eggnog," she growled, getting a chuckle from Bikhai and Argis as they entered the house.

"That sounds disgusting," Bikhai said, smiling at Misty.

"It is," she said, grinning at Beatrice as the woman followed, "Merry Christmas, Bee!"

"Merry Christmas!" Beatrice said, looking at the tree being decorated by the children, "wow. Those look amazing."

"Christmas is the best time of year," Misty said with a smile that lit up her face.

"It looks like it," Argis said, smiling at Ma'rakha lifting Minna up to put a bright red ball on a higher branch.

Misty tilted her head at the wooden box in Bikhai's hand, "what's that?" she asked.

Bikhai shifted slightly, rubbing the back of his neck nervously, "Argis and this one thought that you would like some decorations, but since you already have some..."

Before he could move the box away, Misty snatched the box from him and opened it, her eyes going wide at the beautiful decorations laying against some cloth, "oh wow," she breathed, lifting one of the decorations from the box and looking at it in the light, "these are beautiful."

"What?" Courtney asked, stepping up beside her sister before gasping, "oh my God, those are beautiful. You guys made these? For real?"

Bikhai and Argis shuffled their feet coyly as Misty grinned as her sister.

"Best Blacksmiths in Skyrim," she said, chuckling as Argis blushed.

"Bikhai would not go that far," Bikhai said, furrowing his brow at her.

"Yeah huh," Misty said, heading for the tree, "these are going on the tree right now."

"What'd you use for the gems?" Courtney asked, still looking over the one in her hand.

"Garnet. You can find it pretty much everywhere. These are from the last crypt Sirius and Farkas went into for the Companions," Argis said, glancing at the men as they laughed at Vilkas, who was frowning at the hat his brothers had put on him. 

"Wow. You guys sure are crafty. I can't even make a card without getting shit on everything," Courtney grumbled as Argis chuckled.

"I could teach you sometime, if you'd like," he said, giving her a smile, "I taught Misty."

Courtney gave him a smirk, "yeah, she told me about your lesson," she said, getting a smirk in return from the man.

"That lesson is optional," he said, winking at her as she laughed.

"Not even in your dreams," she said, heading to the tree to place the ornament on the branches.

A knock at the door turned Argis around to answer it and he smiled at the blue khajiit as he entered with two more khajiit and two argonians, "Inigo, good to see you, friend."

Inigo gave the man a smile, the men clapping one another on the forearm as the other beast men shook the snow from their cloaks, "good to see you as well." 

"Uncle Inigo!" Minna cried out, rushing to the khajiit.

"Minna May!" Inigo said, sweeping the little bosmer up into the air as she squealed and giggled, "how's my bosmer friend doing?"

"We're helping decorate the tree!" she squealed, pointing at the tree as Courtney helped the boys put up the lights.

"Ah. It looks beautiful," he said, smiling at the girl as he put her down.

She giggled, skipping back to the tree as Misty went to greet her friends, "hey guys! Thanks for coming. Merry Christmas," she said, giving them hugs. "Look at you guys in your fancy duds."

Inigo chuckled, "duds," he muttered, as he walked with Misty toward the tree.

"You just get a kick outta some of the things I say, don't you?" she asked, making him chuckle.

"They are strange but funny," he said, sliding his arm around her waste as he gave her a peck on the cheek, "this'll be a wonderful time."

Misty nodded, "God I hope so," she said, glancing toward Hawke as he sat with Kieron and Riordan, "I, sorta, invited a few people they nobody's going to be happy to see."

Inigo gave her a raised eyebrow as he thought for a second, "is it Cael?" he asked, getting a nod from Misty.

"I don't know if he's bringing his sister and Anu or not," she said, keeping her voice low so the others wouldn't hear. She took a deep breath, licking her lips, "and I invited Bishop."

Inigo gave a low growl of annoyance, "why?"

Misty sighed, "because I feel bad that he doesn't really have anyone and we're like the only family he has." She turned to him, putting her hand against his chest as she gave him pleading eyes, "please don't tell anyone or make a big deal about this. I want to have a nice Christmas with everyone together and happy."

"Then uninvite the ranger," he growled, narrowing his orange eyes at her.

Misty frowned, "no. You know I'm not that kind of person. Besides, it's not guaranteed that he'll even show up," she said, glancing at the door as Farkas moved to answer it.

"Let's hope so for his sake," Inigo growled under his breath.

Farkas opened the door, giving the Casavir a smile and stepping aside as the paladin entered with Vero and a couple of surprise guests behind him, "welcome back!"

Casavir shook off the cold, draping his cloak over the stand before moving toward the fire, "it's fridged out there," the knight muttered, kneeling down to warm himself.

"TRAYSEK!" Misty exclaimed giving the redguard a hug as he chuckled, hugging her back.

"Miss me that much, baby?" he asked, grinning at her as she frowned.

"See? Now I want you to leave," she grumbled, smirking as he gave her a fake pout.

"Aww. But I brought presents," he said, setting a sack on the floor.

"Presents?" the children said excitedly, rushing to Traysek as he chuckled.

"Easy now. You can't have them until this Christmas thing happens," he said, getting groans and whines from the children. 

"Oh, but Traysek. Can't they have one?" Recorder asked, hugging Sher'tul and giving him big, begging eyes.

Traysek sighed, rolling his eyes, "fine, but only one and _I'm_ picking it out," he said, reaching into the bag and pulling out a small object that he held in the palm of his hand. 

Misty frowned at it before he pushed the red button on top and legs sprung from the sides. Her eyes widened at the tiny Dwemer Spider clacking in his palm as the children gathered around to see it. "Where'd you get that?" 

"I had it laying around," he said, smirking at her as he handed the tiny spider off to Zarain, who was eyeing it with fascination, "it doesn't run on soul gems, just small jolts of electricity, but it can run for hours."

"This is so amazing," Zarain said, poking at the small contraption.

"You wouldn't happen to have another one of those, would you?" Darrow asked, giving Traysek a smile.

Traysek chuckled, "sorry. That's the only one I've got," he said, lifting the bag from the ground, "where do you want the rest of these?"

"Ooo! Take 'em upstairs and we'll wrap 'em," Misty said, grabbing a couple rolls of wrapping paper and tape. 

"Can we help, mama?" Sofia asked, giving Misty big blue eyes.

Misty shook her head, "sorry honey, but rules are you don't get to help wrap your own presents," she said, patting the little girl on the head as she led Traysek to the stairs.

"How about I help Traysek wrap those presents," Courtney suggested, giving Misty's frown a smirk, "he probably has something for you and it's not fair for you to wrap your own present, remember?"

Misty snorted, "fine," she grumbled, handing the wrapping paper and tape over, "spoil sport."

Courtney chuckled as Traysek and her headed up the stairs.

Misty scanned over the room, counting all the people that were already there and thinking about the others she had invited, but hadn't arrived yet.  _I hope nothing's happened,_ she thought as the door opened. She let out a relieved breath when Kaidan stepped into the house, stomping the snow from his boots before moving farther into the house, allowing Cael, Lilith, and Bishop through the door. He moved toward Misty without removing his cloak, "hey Lil-eh," she didn't have time to say anymore before Kaidan took hold of her by the arm and pulled her from the room into the alchemy room. "Kai, what the Hell?" she growled, stumbling after him and his frown. 

He pulled her around, backing her up to the wall before putting his hand against the wall beside her head and leaning forward to put their noses a few inches away, "you're damned lucky I love you," he growled, narrowing his crimson eyes at her. 

"What happened now?" she grumbled with a sigh, folding her arms over her chest.

"One, the ranger is a difficult man to find. You're lucky I found him at all. Two, had I known I would be fighting off hordes of Forsworn to make sure one man had safe passage, I would have brought others along, and three, Bishop hasn't stopped complaining since Cael joined the little group, especially once he found out you invited the man to this holiday thing. The only one I haven't had problems with is Lilith, and I was honestly waiting for it," he leaned back then, folding his arms over his chest, "never again. I don't care how much you beg me. I won't go stickin' my neck out for the sake of those that care less about you than a typical bandit."

Misty rolled her eyes, "you mean Bishop, right?"

Kaidan nodded, his frown deepening, "why did you invite him anyway?"

"Because he doesn't have anyone, Kai, and nobody should be alone on Christmas," she said, tilting her head slightly.

"Christmas is your world's Holiday, not ours," he pointed out, frowning at her before giving a heavy sigh, "love, I know you've got a soft spot for lonely creatures, but I would have thought that you'd have been done with him."

Misty sighed, "I'm surprised you're more upset about Bishop being here than Cael," she said, running her hand through her hair.

"I'll get to that in a moment," he growled, narrowing his eyes at her as she groaned. He sighed again, pinching the bridge of his nose against a headache that had started the moment he told Bishop why he had searched for him. 

Misty moved forward, putting her hand gently on Kaidan's arm, bringing his tired, annoyed eyes up to her, "I really do appreciate you going to get them, Kai. Everyone else would have told me no."

"I did tell you no," he growled, narrowing his eyes at her.

Misty gave him big innocent eyes and put her finger to her lips, "did you? I don't recall."

Kaidan huffed, taking hold of her hips and jerking her forward into the front of his body, "harpy," he growled, his eyes shining humor as she giggled.

"Adorable," she said, booping his nose as he frowned.

"Not," he muttered, gently pressing his lips against her's with a sigh, "you're lucky I love you."

Misty grinned up at him, "I know."

He sighed again, putting his forehead against her's as he closed his eyes, "let's stay like this for a moment or I'm going to decorate your strange decorations with blood."

Misty nodded, hugging Kaidan as he held her, taking slow, deep breaths to calm himself.

* * *

Traysek frowned at his mass of colorful paper, tape, and ribbon before glancing at the perfectly wrapped gift sitting next to Courtney's arm, "how in Oblivion do you get your's to look so perfect?" he asked, furrowing his brow at the mess he lifted from the bed.

Courtney chuckled, "years and years of wrapping presents," she said, giving the mess of paper in his hands a raised eyebrow, "what'd you do? Wrestle with the gift and the paper and lose?"

Traysek gave her an annoyed glare as she grinned at him, "fix it," he grumbled, holding it out to her as she rolled her eyes.

"Alright, alright," she said, shaking her head as she unwrapped and rewrapped it, "there. Now you can say you wrapped one perfectly."

Traysek snorted, shaking his head, "I hope they like my gifts," he mumbled, watching Courtney start to wrap a short sword he had picked out for one of the boys Kaidan was training. If Kai in this dimension was anything like the Kai back in his, that's what he would be doing with the children.

"Do you have any holidays that you and your family celebrate?" Courtney asked, more of an absentminded thing to keep the silence from killing her. 

"Oh, yeah. We have loads of holidays," he paused, shrugging, "well, at least festivals. The lights. The music. The rum."

Courtney smirked, "play your cards right and I'll spike the punch after the kids go to bed," she said, getting an interested eyebrow from the redguard.

"Spike the punch?" Traysek asked with a raised eyebrow.

Courtney rolled her eyes, "I'll put booze in the holiday punch to make things more cheery," she said, checking over her wrapping before setting the present on the stack starting to form. "The kids should be about done decorating the tree, wouldn't you say?"

Traysek shrugged, "I don't know. How long does something like that take?"

"Eh, a few hours, depending on how many times they have to keep the tree from getting knocked over," Courtney said, chuckling as the sound of arguing coming from the floor below, "sounds like they're about done."

* * *

"Alright, both of you go to a corner and stand there!" Misty growled, pulling Alesan and Solitar apart and giving them shoves in opposite directions.

The boys grumbled as they shuffled to corners in opposite sides of the room as Misty shook her head and rubbed her forehead, starting to get a stress headache. 

"Is there anything I can do for you, sparrow?" Cael asked, gently touching Misty's arm to get her attention. 

Misty glanced up at him, giving him a strained smile, "nah, nah. I'll just get a broom and we've still gotta get - OH SHIT!" she yelped, rushing into the kitchen, snatching the oven paddle as she did, "please, please, please, please, please." She slid the paddle into the oven, furrowing her brow as she pulled a couple of pies out of the oven. "Oh...no..." she groaned, frowning at the burnt pies before tossing the paddle at the corner, "God.....Damnit...."

"What's wrong?" Cinder asked, poking his head into the kitchen before his ears lay back on his head, "what are those?"

Misty sighed, "they were supposed to be pies," she growled, rubbing her temples.

"I smell burnt pies," Courtney called, laughing as she placed the presents under the tree, "now it's really like home." She chuckled as she entered the kitchen, "every year without fail."

Misty frowned at her sister, "it's not funny," she said, waving them toward the door, "go get more apples from the market. Hillevi should still be at her stand."

Courtney chuckled as she left, smacking Cinder's arm with the back of her hand, "you and Iron feel like trudging through snow to help me get some apples?"

Cinder smirked, "only if I get a kiss like Brynjolf did," he said, his eyes narrowing with humor.

Courtney frowned at him, "never mind then," she said, getting a chuckle from the large khajiit.

"Easy kitten. I'll come with you," he said, sliding his arm around her shoulders as they headed for the door.

"Be back in a minute," she said, waving over her shoulder at the room as they left the house.

Misty groaned, tossing the pies into the trash bucket with a sigh and shaking her head, "guess I gotta start over," she muttered, lifting the bag of flour onto the table with a grunt.

"Something wrong, princess?" Bishop's velvety voice purred from the doorway as he leaned against the frame, smirking at her with his arm and ankles crossed. 

Misty sighed, "yes...no... It won't be once Courtney and Cinder get back with the apples," she grumbled, measuring out the flour and dumping it into a large bowl, "I should have known better. Never fails. Every year."

Bishop gave her a raised eyebrow before glancing behind him and moving into the kitchen, "you look stressed, ladyship," he purred, moving to stand behind her as she cracked a couple of eggs into the bowl. He put his hands on her shoulders, rubbing his thumbs against the muscles of her shoulders, "you need to relax a little."

Misty sighed, her head falling forward as he massaged, "I can't and won't until we're about to open presents," she mumbled, reaching for the milk.

He pulled her back, sliding his arms around her waist and putting his chin on her shoulder, "what can this ranger do for his lady?" he purred against her ear.

Misty sighed again, shaking her head, "unless you can magically summon perfectly made pies, nothing," she said, leaning forward for the bottle of milk once again and pouring some into the bowl.

Bishop smirked, giving her neck a kiss, "why don't you and I find somewhere nice and quiet where I can help you relieve some of that stress," he suggested, his low, velvety tone sliding over her like a sweet, dark promise.

Misty swallowed, giving him a slight glance before licking her lips and shaking her head, "no....no, not... not right now."

Bishop's smirk became a grin as he caressed his lips over her skin, "you're such a liar. You want it as much as I do, honey. Why not give in to it?" he cooed, his breath hot on her neck.

"Be-cause," she said, trying to keep her voice steady and failing, "I have... stuff to do...Bishop." She gasped his name as he nipped at her neck. 

"Come on, Honey," he purred, holding her tight against the front of his body, "let me help."

Misty swallowed, chewing on her bottom lip as he kissed her neck and shoulder, her head falling back against his shoulder,  _God, why?_

Bishop smirked against her shoulder, his hand starting to slide up her stomach until someone clearing their throat stopped his hand's moving as his glanced toward the Paladin standing in the doorway. Bishop sneered at him, stepping away from Misty as she panted, leaning on the table with her eyes closed. "What do you want?"

"I came to see if there was anything I could assist Misty with," Casavir said, narrowing his blue eyes at Bishop.

Bishop scoffed, "get in line, buddy," he growled, folding his arms over his chest.

Misty took a deep breath, her heart finally quiet enough that she could breathe, "no! No fighting. I'm not dealing with that on Christmas," she said, turning and poking Bishop in the arm, "I fucking mean it."

Bishop narrowed his eyes at her before sighing, "fine, ladyship. I'll behave," he said, smirking as he pulled her into his chest, "for a kiss from her highness."

Misty narrowed her eyes at him, studying him for a second before sighing, "one kiss and you get out of my kitchen."

Bishop smirked, "deal," he said, leaning down to press his lips against her's, his eyes moving to Casavir as he kissed her, giving the paladin a smirk as Misty stepped back, her hands patting his chest.

"Now leave. I have to get the pie crust done before Courtney and Cinder get back," she said, turning back to the bowl and mixing the dough.

Bishop leaned forward, "I'll be waiting in your bed when this is finished," he said, kissing her neck before moving past Casavir and out into the other room.

Misty rolled her eyes and shook her head, "whatever you say," she muttered, glancing at Casavir, "what's up, Cas?"

"You don't really plan on sleep with that...fiend, do you?" Casavir asked, moving to stand at the end of the table as she sprinkled flour out over the tabletop. 

"No. I don't plan on anything," she said, dumping the dough onto the table, "I just want to make a few apple pies and have a good Christmas. Nothing more."

Casavir sighed, running his hand over his hair, "I am not sure allowing Bishop to join is such a good idea, m'lady."

Misty rolled her eyes, "I know you and him have a rough history, but I'm just asking for one night of you two getting along. Nothing more," she paused what she was doing to look at Casavir, "can you give me that, please?"

Casavir sighed and gave her a nod, "as you wish, m'lady."

"Thank you, Casavir," she said, giving him a smile as she went back to kneading the dough.

"Is there anything you would have of me?" he asked, watching her cut the dough into parts.

"Um... there's probably some decorations that need put up. You could do that for me," she said, starting to wipe her hands on her skirt and stopping herself, "argh! Where's my apron?"

Casavir smiled, taking the floral apron from the hook on the wall and helping her put it on.

"Thank you," she said, giving him a smile before going back to kneading the dough.

"We're back!" Courtney's rang out as she and Cinder entered the kitchen with armloads of apples.

"Thank God," Misty breathed, nodding at the other table, "put 'em over there and start peeling."

Courtney nodded, giving Casavir a pat on the back as she snagged another apron from the hook, "hey Cas. How's things?"

"Well, thank you, Courtney," Casavir said, giving her a pleasant smile, "how are things with you?"

Courtney smiled, "well, except for Misty burning the pies," she said with a chuckle, getting shot a glare from her sister, "couldn't be better."

"Good to hear," he said, clearing his throat, "well, I shall leave you ladies to your plans." He gave them both a slight bow before leaving Misty, Courtney, and Cinder in the kitchen.

"Hey Cinder, could you help Casavir put up the rest of the decorations?" Misty asked, nodding toward the door.

"Sure," Cinder said, grinning at the two as he walked backwards toward the door, "I'll see you, ladies, later."

Misty and Courtney laughed and rolled their eyes as he left. 

"Soooo. Casavir...." Misty started, glancing over her shoulder at her sister.

"What about him?" Courtney asked, furrowing her brow at the apples.

"He likes you," Misty said, getting a scoff from Courtney.

"No he doesn't," Courtney said, shaking her head as she put the peeled apples in another bowl.

"Yes, he does. He doesn't stop smiling when you two talk for a while," Misty said, grinning at her sister as she placed the rolled out dough in one of the pie pans she had brought from their world. 

"Most men do," Courtney said, sounding a little annoyed.

Misty sighed, "not like those men, Court. He legit likes you, like, as a person instead of just something pretty on his arm," she said, watching her sister start to cut the apples, "you should get him a Christmas present."

"I already did," Courtney muttered, making Misty smile. 

"What'd you get him?" Misty asked, taking a bowl from the shelf and snagging her spices from home.

Courtney chuckled, "nice try. I'm not about to tell you anything, sneak," she said, grinning at Misty as the women put together the apple pie filling. 

 

* * *

"Okay, Dovahkiirs! Time to open presents!" Misty called, gathering the children as they giggled and playfully pushed one another. "Alright, alright. Enough. Take your seats and we'll start unwrapping presents."

She smiled, taking a seat on Cael's offered lap as he slipped his arms around her waist as Courtney, Isengrim, and Beatrice handed the children their gifts. 

"I like your holiday," Cael muttered near her ear, kissing her shoulder, "thank you for sharing it with me."

Misty smiled, turning to look at him, "thank you for coming," she said, making him smile, "you shared some of your culture when I was in your village. It's only fair I share some of mine."

Cael brushed his fingers over her cheek, "you are enchanting, my sparrow. The light in your eyes is so captivating, I cannot look away."

Misty blushed, grinning as she shifted on his lap, "Cael..."

He chuckled, "I adore you. You know that," he said, lifting her hand and giving her knuckles a kiss.

"I know, but why you gotta say things that make my cheeks red?" she said, glancing at the children as they sat impatiently with their gifts in their laps.

"Because it's beautiful. You're so expressive, sparrow. It's one of the things I love about you," he said, smiling at her as she looked back at him.

"Get a room," Solitar grumbled, getting giggles from his sisters.

Misty frowned at the boy as Cael chuckled, "shush you," she growled, making the boy laugh.

"Alright, open them, now!" Courtney said, signaling the children to rip the paper from their gifts.

Misty smiled as their eyes widened at their gifts lighting up like the tree.

"Wow! Thank you Uncle Traysek!" Sissel squealed, holding up a handcrafted doll from Hammerfell.

Traysek chuckled from his chair, "you're welcome."

"This is my favorite part," she said more to herself than anyone.

"I can see why," Cael murmured back, laying his chin on her shoulder. 

"Oh! That reminds me," Misty said, getting to her feet and going to the hidden room in the next room over. She smiled at the small gifts in the bag and carried it out.

Derkeethus gave her a raised eyebrow, "need help?"

Misty shook her head, "naw, I got it," she said, rifling through the bag and pulling a small box tied with ribbon from the bag, "but you can open this."

Derkeethus tilted his head, pulling the ribbon apart and lifting the lid. He blinked in surprise of the pendant in the box.

"I couldn't find anything that you would like and when I saw this, I instantly thought of you, since you like to swim into Falmer infested caves," she said, chuckling at the annoyed glare the argonian gave her.

"Thank you, friend. I really like it," he said, putting the necklace on as Misty turned to hand Niall her gift.

"Ooo! For me?" he asked, grinning as he opened the gift. He smirked at the iPod and headphones sitting in the box.

"There's already a bunch of music on it, but when you visit my world next time, I'll show you how to put more music on it," she said, smiling at him as he gave her a hug.

"Thank you," he said, moving back and starting to scroll through the songs.

Misty moved onto Sirius and Farkas as they chatted happily, munching on the turkey legs in their hands, "do you guys ever stop eating?" she asked, getting a chuckle from the men. 

"Do you ever make anything not worth eating?" Sirius asked, grinning at her.

"Those burnt pies looked unappetizing," Courtney called out.

"Quiet you!" Misty called back, getting a round of laughs from the people in the room. She dug in the bag and pulled out two boxes, holding them out to the warriors. 

  
Farkas                                                                            Sirius

 They both took them, opening the boxes and smiling at the pendants in the fluffy cotton. 

"Wow, did you make these?" Sirius asked, instantly putting his on.

Misty shook her head, "no, I bought them," she said, rubbing the back of her neck, "I didn't really have time to make any."

"That's fine, Messy. I still have the dragon tooth you scrimshawed. I'll put this on that," Farkas said, giving her a squeezey hug.

"I'm glad you guys like 'em," she said, giving Sirius a hug before moving on. She gave Brynjolf a smirk, watching him with narrowed eyes.

"What is it, lass?" Brynjolf asked, giving Misty a raised eyebrow.

She sighed, pulling his gift from the beg and holding it out, "figured you could use some of these."

Brynjolf tilted his head slightly as he took the gift and opened it. He gave the leather pouch another raised eyebrow before opening it. He blinked at the row of different shaped lockpicks before smirking and pulling her into a hug, "thank you, lass. It's a great gift."

Misty chuckled, giving him a smile, "only the best for a thief," she said, making him chuckle as she moved on, leaving him to look over the lockpicks. She gave Raven a smile as he stood from his seat, giving her a hug, "thanks for going to get Courtney."

"Anything for the most beautiful goddess in all of Skyrim," he said, grinning at her as she giggled.

"You're so cheesy," she said, handing him his gift.

Raven smiled at her, "you didn't need to get me anything. I just count myself lucky to be in your presence," he said, making her roll her eyes.

"Just unwrap it," she said, getting a grin from the Breton as he unwrapped it. 

He glanced over the cover, smiling at the book and the memories it brought of when he and Misty would just sit in the sun and read poems to one another. He looked up at Misty, giving her that rare, sweet boy smile that she loved to see on his face, "thank you," he said, giving her a hug, "I love it."

"Maybe you can read me one of those later," she said, giving him another smile as he flipped through the book and she moved to the group of warriors that usually hung out when together, giving them a smile as Kieron pulled her into a tight hug.

"This is an interesting holiday," Riordan said, giving her a smile as she handed him his gift.

Riordan opened the small box, giving the golden locket a raised eyebrow.

"Sorry it's a little girly, but I couldn't find one that was masculine enough," she said, handing Bikhai, Kieron, Argis, and Kaidan their gifts, "you should check the inside and thank Sirius. He helped me with it."

He gave her a confused raised eyebrow before opening the Locket, his eyes going wide for a moment at the image of the woman painted into the locket, "Ayla," he breathed, rubbing his thumb over the woman's face as he swallowed the lump in his throat. 

"Sirius helped with the picture. He described her as best he could from what he could remember of her," Misty said, smiling at him as he wiped the tears from under his eyes.

"Thank you. It's perfect," he said, giving her a hug.

Kieron lifted the silver wings from the box, glancing at Misty past them as she smiled.

"Every guardian angel needs a set of wings," she said, making him chuckle.

"Thank you, lass, but you're more our guardian angel than anyone else," Kieron said, taking her hand and giving her knuckles a kiss.

 Misty flushed, smiling at him as he held the necklace out toward her.

"Do you mind?" he asked, getting another smile as she gently took it.

"Course," she said, unclipping the necklace and putting it around his neck before clipping it closed. 

He took her hands, giving them a kiss before letting them slide from his hands, smiling at her as they did, "thank you, rose."

Kaidan looked over the wooden box, his fingers tracing the strange symbols that looked like better designed, smoother dragon language like what they saw on the word walls. He opened the box, glancing over the items in the box with a furrowed brow.  _What in Oblivion am I going to use this for?_ he thought, looking up at Misty as she tilted her head at him.

"What's wrong, Kai?" she asked, getting that wrinkle between her brow when she was upset at something.

"What's it for?" he asked, lifting the small grass hammer from the box.

"It's supposed to be for doing maintenance on your sword so it'll last longer and Bikhai doesn't have to fix it every few days," Misty said, nodding at the box, "there should be instructions in there on how to use it."

Kaidan chuckled, "you just don't want Bikhai to have too much work."

 Misty smiled, "Bikhai's always working on someone's sword or someone else's armor. He deserves a break too," she said, glancing at said khajiit as he examined the amulet in the picture frame. "I had a jeweler make a replica of the first necklace you ever made me. It's not as good as the one you made, but I thought it would be a nice memento for you. I really liked it."

Bikhai smiled at the necklace in the frame, running his hands over the glass, "thank you, Misty. This one will cherish it as you have cherished Bikhai's gifts."

She gave him another smile before moving onto the less lively warriors, Vilas, Vero, and Argis. "I come bearing gifts," she said, getting an eye roll from Vilkas. 

"Didn't you already had out gifts?" Vero asked, giving her a raised eyebrow. 

"Not to the adults," she said, smiling as she handed each man his gift, "I hope you guys like them. I saw them and thought of you."

 

Argis's eyes widened at the shield she handed him, reverently taking it as he shook his head, "I can't accept this. You went through a daedric trail for this," he said, his brows furrowing in frustration.

"I'm not going to use it. I'm not an up-close-and-personal fighter, Argis, and I'd rather it actually get some use rather than being a decoration on one of my house walls," she said, smiling at the frustration on his face before shrugging, "if you don't want it, you can give it to someone else. I just don't want it sitting on a plaque somewhere when it could be helping save one or more lives."

Argis looked over the shield before swallowing and licking his lips, "thank you, my thane... I will put it to good use," he said, giving her a smile as he set it on the table in front of him. 

 

"Greek and Roman Myths?" Vilkas read the title aloud, giving Misty a raised eyebrow, "why would you get me this?"

"Because you like reading and learning and I figured that you would like a book that would teach you about some of the myths and legends of my world," she said, giving him a grin, "it was either this or a bible. I thought you'd like this a little more than a religious book."

Vilkas glanced over the back cover, where he had learned most books from Misty's world contained the summary on the back of the book, making it fairly easy to decern if he would like it or not. He gave a small nod of approval before cracking into it, "thank you, Harbinger. I will definently read this thoroughly."

Misty chuckled, rolling her eyes as she shook her head, "you do that."

Vero gave the book in his hand a raised eyebrow before looking up at Misty, "really? A book on Vampires?"

"I wanted to show you that not everyone likes Twilight or thinks of vampires like fru-fru, pretty things that sparkle in the sunlight?" she said, watching him frown.

"I didn't like that idea of vampires at all," he growled, lifting the book to look at the cover, "I will be sure to read it. Anything is better than that...Twilight."

Misty chuckled, giving them a casual wave as she moved onto the next group, Traysek, Casavir, Isengrim, Caranthir, and Kharjo.

"What's this?" Traysek asked, looking at the strange, seemingly delicate device Misty handed him.

"That's a waterproof mp3 player with pirate shanties on it," she said, getting a chuckle from the redguard.

"Pirate shanties, huh?" he asked, turning the thing around and around, "how does it work?"

Misty motioned him to lean down as she took the mp3 player and hooked it around his head, putting the earbuds in his ears as she spoke, "these buttons on the bottom switch the songs so if you want to listen to a different song, you can," she said, pushing play on the earbuds and making him jump. 

"Woah," he muttered, before grinning, "THIS IS GREAT! THESE SHANTIES ARE REALLY CATCHY!"

Misty laughed, turning the volume down for him, "we can hear you fine with out shouting, Tray."

"Oh, sorry," he said, listening to the songs with a grin, "a few of these sound familiar."

"Good," she said, watching Kharjo examine the Dragonbone sword in his hands, "it's not enchanted. I wasn't sure if you wanted it enchanted or not so I didn't and if you do, I'm sure Taliesin could put a couple enchantments on that. 

"You did not have to get me anything. I was just happy to be invited to such an event," Kharjo said, giving her a smile, "thank you, friend. I appreciate it."

"I hope you can put it to some good use," she said, slapping him on the arm before turning to Casavir.

"Such fine craftsmanship. The design is very intricate," Casavir said, looking over the handle and pommel, "did you craft this yourself?"

Misty shook her head, "I can barely make a regular steel sword. There's no way in Hell I could make something as awesome as that in a few days," she said, chuckling, "no, I ordered it a few months back from a blacksmith in my world. It's a replica Knights Templar sword."

"Knights Templar?" Casavir asked, pulling the sword slightly from its sheath to examine the blade.

"They're an order of knights that swore an oath to protect the innocent and uphold the laws of God," she said, giving him a grin, "kind of like you did."

"Thank, my lady. It is a very thoughtful give," he said, giving her a small bow.

"Don't think anything of it, Cas. You deserve it," she said, grinning as Isengrim gasped at the necklace in the small box.

"Oh my, it's beautiful," she breathed, her fingers tracing the weaving before giving Misty a hug, "thank you so much. This is absolutely amazing!"

"I'm glad you like it," Misty chuckled, helping Isengrim put the necklace/choker on.

"I will wear this for the rest of the night for sure. It's so beautiful," she said, giving Misty a grin.

"It's no big deal," Misty said, waving the thanks away as she coyly shuffled her feet. 

 

Caranthir read over the books in the box, raising his brow at the titles.

"I didn't know what to get you, Caranthir, so I just got you what I got Taliesin. He watched the movies in my world and wanted to read the books when I told him that they were better," she said, giving him a nervous smile.

"What are they about?" he asked, pulling one of the books out and glancing over the cover.

"A boy who finds out he's a powerful wizard and ends up going to a school to learn to control his magic and just learn magic in general," she said, still looking nervous.

"That sounds like a life story here in Skyrim," he chuckled, putting her a little at ease.

"Yeah it does," she said, smiling for real, "I hope you like them. Maybe you and Tal can read them together."

Caranthir chuckled, "maybe, but I think he's a little too big to sit on my lap," he said, glancing at Taliesin as he laughed at something Wolfe said. 

"You could always try," she said, making him laugh.

"Thank you, your highness. I will definitely read them," he said, giving her a smile as he tucked the box under his arm as she moved to the next group. Cael, Inigo, Iron, Cinder, Lilith, and Beatrice.

Cael smiled at the bracer with the knives, giving the side of Misty's head a kiss, "thank you, sweet sparrow," he said, wondering what good small knives like those would do as he tried the bracer on.

"They're throwing knives, that way if someone's coming at you or one of the warriors you're fighting with, you can turn and throw the knife at him instead of wasting extra energy running to protect them," she said, giving him a grin.

"Ah, that makes more sense," he said, flicking one of the snaps to pull one of the knives from the sheath.

"If you need more knives, just let me know and I'll buy more, or have someone make you more," she said, watching him examine the blades.

"It's very light," he muttered, flinging his arm out, throwing the knife to hit a point on the wall, "but very precise."

Misty gave him an annoyed glare, "really? In my wall?" she grumbled, folding her arms over her chest.

"I am sorry, my sparrow," he said, rubbing the back of his head as he gave her an apologetic smile, "I will practice in a more open environment."

Misty nodded, "you better. I don't have tons of money to fix whatever you break."

Cael chuckled, heading to retrieve the throwing knife as she smiled at Inigo unwrapping his gift.

Inigo gave the pen, pencil, and notepads a raised eyebrow, "thank you, my friend, but I have not finished with the other one I bought the other day," he said, squinting at the bright, yellow covers.

"Those are all weather, Ini. So, if it's raining and you want to write, you still can without having to worry about the paper getting wet or the pen or pencil not working," she said, giving him a smile.

He smiled back, "thank you. This will definitely come in handy the next time I go adventuring," he said, flipping through the blank pages, "so many pages, so much to write."

Iron and Cinder opened their gifts together, Cinder giving a whoop at the new Dragonborn battleax in his hands. 

"This is amazing!" he said, flipping it around in his hands before Iron grabbed near the blade, frowning at his brother.

 

"Not in the house," Iron growled at the khajiit, getting a snort from the large khajiit.

"Thank you, Misty. I will definitely cleave some heads with this," Cinder said, grinning with an all too eager glint in his eyes.

Misty gave a nervous chuckle as the khajiit moved toward the door, wanting to test out his new toy, "maybe I should have gotten him a ball of yarn or something less destructive," she said, getting a chuckle from the argonian.

"I'll keep an eye on him," Iron said, giving her a half hug before heading for the door.

"...and there's Nirnroot and Briar hearts. Ooo! And powdered mammoth tusk!" Beatrice exclaimed, excitedly going through the alchemy bag, her mind reeling with the possible potions she could make with all the rare ingredients. "It must have cost you a lot to get some of these."

Misty shook her head, "didn't cost me a dime," she said, glancing at Inigo as he scribbled something in small notepad before his ear twitched around and he lifted his head, blinking at the two in confusion before grinning.

"Thank you both, really. These are...amazing!" she said, her body shaking with excitement, "I'm going to go through everything in this bag." She took a seat at the table, spreading everything out as she went over the recipes in her head.

Misty chuckled at her friend before giving a surprised squeak at Lilith giving her a tight hug.

"This is perfect!" Lilith said, grinning from ear to ear as she put the compass locket around her neck, "you even engraved it!"

Misty laughed, giving her a fist bump at their little inside joke, "Chicken Five," she said, getting a smirk from Lilith before the girls burst out laughing.

"What're you two cackling at?" Vilkas asked, frowning at them as he walked past.

"Jokes on you," Lilith said, smirking at him, "we weren't cackling."

Misty laughed, shaking her head as he frowned at them.

"Harpies," he muttered before smirking and moving toward a corner where Zarain was sitting, watching the dwemer spider tap dance around the floor over the top of his book.

Misty chuckled, giving Lilith another hug before moving on to the next group, Kestrel, Wolfe, Bishop, and Marcurio.

Kestrel raised her eyebrow at the gift card Misty gave her, "what's this?"

Misty gave her a grin, "a gift card to Adam and Eve dot com. It's a," she cleared her throat, "adult toy website. I thought a gift card would be better because this is supposed to be a family-friendly story." Glances at reader with a wink.

Kestrel chuckled, "yeah, alright. You'll have to show me how to use this next time I'm in your world though."

"Yeah, Courtney can show you without a problem. She's the one that gave me the idea for the gift card anyway," Misty said, pawning Kestrel's request off on Courtney and sending the dunmer sauntering after her.

Wolfe smirked at the silver wolf head on the end of a wolf claw and instantly slid the necklace around his neck, pulling Misty into a tight hug and kissing her, making her squeak in surprise. He pulled back, grinning at her as he put his forehead against her's.

"I take it you like it," she said, giggling as he kissed her again.

"I love anything you give me," he said, smiling as she grinned at him with sparkling green eyes.

"You're so annoying," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck as he chuckled.

"So are you," he said, giving her a kiss on the forehead as Sissel came up to the two, tugging on Wolfe's clothing to get his attention.

"Uncle Wolfe. Can you help me, Ma'rahka and Minna wrap Mama's Christmas Present?" she asked, shuffling her feet shyly.

Wolfe smiled at her, patting the child on the head as he leaned down, "of course, sweetheart. I'll help you and your siblings keep it secret," he said, giving the little girl a wink that made her giggle. She grabbed his hand, pulling him after her as Misty smiled after them before glancing at Bishop, smirking at the shirts in front of him. 

   


Bishop chuckled at the shirts, shaking his head as the sarcasm written on them. He remembered the shirts that they often read whenever she would take them to the indoor market called "The Mall". 

"I thought of you when I read every shirt," Misty said, absentmindedly folding a couple of the shirts.

Bishop smirked, "you thought of me, hmm?" he hummed, sliding his arms around her as he moved to stand with her against his front, "what other things did you think when you thought of me? I can think of a few...pleasurable things we can make come true."

Misty rolled her eyes as she turned to look up at him, "do you ever stop with the sexual innuendos?"

Bishop grinned and was about to say something snarky and suggestive when Marcurio's voice brought their attention to the mage.

  


 "These look like tunics but with hilarious messages on them," Marcurio said with a chuckle, "where'd you get them?"

"I got them from several different clothing stores in my world. I'll take you there some time, maybe. Let you pick out a few more shirts," Misty offered, getting an excited grin from the wizard.

"When you go there, I'm going with you. I've got to get me more of these strange tunics," Marcurio said, laughing at the one in his hands, "how do they come up with this stuff?"

Misty chuckled, shaking her head as Bishop tugged her in against his chest, "now, where were we?" Bishop purred, grinning at her with sparkling golden eyes. 

Misty couldn't help but giggle as he kissed her, caught up in the high of the holiday and the joy around them. 

"Mmm," he hummed, giving her that rare smile she loved to see, "I love that giggle. Do it again for me, would you Princess?"

Misty sighed, "only if you keep smiling like that, grumpy ranger," she said, getting another smile from him. She sighed, trying to step away from him, "I still have a few more gifts to give people, Bishop."

He groaned, slowly releasing her, "fine, as long as I get you tonight to give you my little gift," he cooed, giving her fingers a kiss before she moved away from him.

"You're welcome to dream, cowboy," she said, chuckling at the growl he gave her as she moved away to hand gifts out to the last people, Taliesin, Hawke, Darrow, and Courtney.

Taliesin laughed at the book set, giving Misty a half hug, "I can't wait to start reading."

"I got a set for your dad too. Maybe you two can take turns reading together or something," she said, chuckling at the sigh of annoyance he gave her. "Oh, come on, Tal. It'll be fun and a fond memory for later."

He sighed again, giving her another hug, "if that's what you want, my queen, then it shall be."

Misty scoffed as he chuckled, "I think your dad would appreciate it more than you realize," she put her hands up, "hear me out. No matter how tall, or powerful, or old you get, he still thinks of you as that little boy that played on the rug... set fire to the rug."

Taliesin snorted, "I never set fire to the rug," he grumbled, folding his arms over his chest.

"It was his mother's skirt," Caranthir said, clapping the man on the shoulder as he chuckled, "and his brother's bed."

"Let's not forget the curtains," Taliesin muttered, getting a laugh from the older Altmer.

"See? You two should read the books together," she said, giving them both a smile, "I'll even give Taliesin time off for family time."

Taliesin sighed as he and his father exchanged a glance before they both chuckled, "how can I argue with that?" Taliesin said, giving Caranthir a smile, "but when we're finished reading the books, we have to watch the movies and compare."

"Sounds good. I just have one question," Caranthir said, getting a chuckle from Misty, "what's a movie?"

Misty sighed, patting Taliesin's chest, "I'll leave this up to you, Tal," she said, getting a sigh from the altmer as she turned to Hawke, who was looking over the Dragonbone shield. "I figured that, since you're always trying to protect me, I would give something to protect you better."

Hawke smiled, gently pulling her into a hug, "thank you, Melissa. It's a wonderful shield and I will use it for all my days," he said, smiling at the returned hug before slowly letting her go. 

"I'm glad you like it. I wasn't sure you would," she said, making him chuckle.

"I'll always use whatever you give me," he said, brushing his knuckle down her cheek as he smiled, "you better finish handing out gifts before you forget."

Misty nodded, giving a whistle before the sound of metal grinding and gears whirring and steam puffing before a large, dwemer dog bounded down from the stairs.

Darrow's eyes widened as he looked at the mechanical hound, "this is a magnificent machine."

"Thank you. I try to stay polished," the hound said, making the altmer gasp.

"It speaks!" Darrow exclaimed, moving around the hound, examining it.

"You like him?" Misty asked, watching the altmer with a grin.

"Yes. I would love to see how this machination works," Darrow said, kneeling in front of the hound.

"If you try to take me apart, I'll rip you to shreds," the hound growled, the gears grinding just so to sound like a growl.

Misty chuckled, "well, Plinko, he's your new owner," she said, getting a huff of steam from the hound.

"My name is PupShark-DWDG3, not Plinko," the dwemer hound hissed.

"New owner," Darrow stood, looking at Misty with wide, starstruck eyes, "you mean...You're giving me this amazing machine?"

Misty nodded, "of course. You'd appreciate him more than I would. I've already got a pretty full house," she said, glancing toward the children's room, "besides, I think that Zarain was starting to eye the poor creature and was thinking about taking him apart." She grunted when he hugged her hard, lifting her from the ground.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Darrow repeated, hugging her tight before Taliesin gently pried his arms from her and pulled her away from the excited altmer as she chuckled.

"I'm alright, I just wasn't expecting that. Especially from Darrow," she said, laughing as he fawned over the dwemer dog, who voiced, loudly, that he wasn't happy about the gifting. She sighed, running her hand through her hair as she turned to Courtney, handing her sister a small box, "this, is for you."

Courtney gasped at the necklace, her hand going to her chest as she pulled Misty into a hug, "you are the best sister ever," she said, grinning at Misty as she put the necklace on, "I'll only take it off when it starts turning my neck green."

Misty and Courtney laughed at what happens at least once in your life when you receive a necklace from someone. 

"Mama!" Sofia said as she and her sisters rolled something into the room, getting everyone's attention.

"What is this?" Misty asked, circling the terribly wrapped gift with a smile.

"Open it!" The children chanted, trying to urge her on. 

She smirked as she jerked the paper off the item, gasping at the beautiful set of armor sitting on a stand. "Oh my... Is this re-enforced, retextured ancient Nord armor? Oh my God, how did you..." she looked at the children, who were grinning the biggest grins you would ever see. She felt herself tear up, pride filling her chest as she motioned them toward her, hugging the large brood she had gathered as she cried, "this is the best Christmas Present in both worlds."

"You really like it, mama?" Sher'tul asked, giving her a grin.

"Yes. I'm going to wear it the next time I go adventuring and I will know that I am the most protected in all of Skyrim," she said, getting laughs and giggles from the children. 

* * *

Misty looked around the room, watching everyone exchange gifts, laughing and enjoying one another's company as they told stories of what they had been up to the last year or so. She smiled at the scene. Her friends, her family, all together on her favorite holiday. It warmed her heart and made her wish for every day to be like this. 

"Come on, Misty! We're going to take a group picture!" Courtney called, waving her sister into the room as everyone gathered for the picture. "Everyone look at the strange device over there. There's going to be a flash so don't blink! Ready! One... Two... Three.... Say Christmas!"

"CHRISTMAS!"

From my family to yours, may your Christmas be merry and every day be better than the last. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year my friends. ^_^

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I WAS going to have Misty getting Kaidan a yoshindo yoshihara katana BUT I asked Josh about the Katana. He said, a katana you have to have a specific training to weild one properly because katanas are sliceing not hack and slash like most swords in Skyrim. SO! If Misty got it for anyone, it WOULD BE for Kaidan despite the fact that it'll just be a decoration instead of an actual weapon since he already has a weapon and thus an extension of himself..... That gave me a headache so no body got a Yoshihara Katana. XP


	3. Valentine's Day 2019 (Wolfe)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First up, our First Place Winner!!

Misty sighed as she started down the stairs of Skyfall Estates. She held the skirt of the dress Wolfe had given her as she moved, the skirt being almost too long for her to walk in without tripping over it. It was a nice change to wearing armor, but she didn't understand why he wanted her to wear it or why he had been almost completely avoiding her for more than a week. She reached the bottom of the steps and looked around, giving the decorations around the main entrance hall a raised eyebrow.  _What's going on?_ she thought her eyes catching movement at the entrance of the library area. Her eyes widened slightly at the sight of Wolfe wearing formal attire, carrying a bouquet of wildflowers. He smiled at her with eyes that sparkled with warmth and happiness. 

"I honestly thought you wouldn't wear it," he said, shifting slightly where he stood. 

"What's all this?" Misty asked, motioning more to him than the rest of the room. 

He shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck as he slowly moved toward her, scuffing his boots nervously on the wood floor, "I felt really bad about Bishop and I ruining your fairytale ball, especially after you went to all the work to look so beautiful. So, I wanted to make it up to you. I know this isn't even close to the ballroom at the blue palace, but they wouldn't let me borrow it," he said, holding the flowers out toward her, "so, what do you say? Will you let me be your prince tonight, princess?"

Misty felt herself smile as she gently took the flowers from him and smelled them, "who would have guessed the notoriously annoying Wolfe would be a romantic," she said, looking up at him with a smile. 

Wolfe chuckled, "only when it comes to you, Misty," he said, holding his hand out to her, "care to dance?"

Misty gave him a raised eyebrow, "there's no music." Just as she finished saying that, she heard a lute start playing ([Warrior Goddess - Mother of Nords](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2XVnoUUAFI&index=1&list=PL5uuqanRfDnCZl-63wpmvF0iwEUDtWDv2)) and turned slightly to look up at Niall, who had also been avoiding her. He gave her a smirk and a wink as he continued to play the lute. She turned back to Wolfe, giving him a smile as she gently lay her hand in his, "I'd like that," she said as he raised her hand to brush a kiss across her knuckles. 

She set the flowers on one of the benches in the hall as he led her out into the middle of the hall, spinning her once before putting his hand gently on her waist. She put one hand on his upper arm, keeping her hand in his as he started to led her in a traditional, ballroom waltz. She barely noticed the song change from Elder Scrolls music to Nightwish ([While your lips are still red](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QG1EhEs10FM)), too enthralled by Wolfe's ability to dance. Sure, he was a rogue and light on his feet, but she never expected him to actually be able to dance. He smirked at her as if he could read her mind. "I asked Taliesin to teach me," he said, spinning her out before pulling her back in, making her giddy giggle as he held her against him. He smiled, kissing her forehead as they slowly spun to the music. He didn't want it to end, holding her like they were the only two people on the planet as they swayed to the seemingly fading music. "I love you, Melissa," he whispered against her hair.

She smiled, closing her eyes as her ear lay against his chest, listening to his heartbeat, "I love you too, Wolfe."

"I'm sorry I'm such an ass all the time, I just don't want you to get hurt and I don't know how else to deal with it," he said, stroking her hair. 

"I know," she said, nuzzling his chest slightly, "it's not like I have a choice. If I had a choice, I would have probably stayed in Whiterun the first time we went there. Maybe helped Hulda out at the Bannered Mare or something. I know I wouldn't be the Dragonborn."

"I know, Princess. I would have preferred you working in a tavern to what you have to do," he said, kissing the side of her head, "but, no matter what you have to go through and what you have to do, Misty, I'll always be there for you."

Misty smiled against his chest before leaning back to look up at him, his golden amber eyes soft and full of warmth that touched her heart, "you really mean that, don't you?"

Wolfe chuckled, "I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it, honey," he said, brushing a strand of hair from her face and tucking it behind her ear, "you're my princess and this rogue isn't about to let anything happen to his princess."

Misty blushed, ducking her head slightly in embarrassment, as she always did when one of the men in the group said something heroic and romantic. It was hard to believe that people actually talked like that, and to her, no less. It was a true fairytale. 

Wolfe lifted her chin with his finger and thumb, turning her face up toward him as he leaned forward, giving her lips a soft kiss that made her sigh. He released her chin, not breaking the kiss as he slid his hands around her waist, swaying in a circle to music he didn't recognize ([Endless Love](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5Z0Ihh6nc4)), but Niall had assured him she would enjoy. He held her against his body, inhaling the soft scent of the woman he loved more than anything he had ever cared about in his entire life. Her hands lay, small and warm against his chest. Even through the annoyingly tight fabric, he could feel the small twitches and flexing of her fingers, something that he was sure not many, if anybody, realized she did. 

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" he asked, keeping his voice low.

Misty lifted her head, looking up at him with confused eyes, "nothing, why?"

He took her hand, raising it to kiss her fingertips, "your fingers were twitching," he said, confusing her slightly more. 

"I... didn't know they were doing that," she said, looking at her own fingers in his hand.

"It's usually when you're relaxing in one of your houses," he said, smiling at her, "it's like your body's still ready to adventure."

Misty snorted, "no. I like when we don't have anything to do. I wish we could do nothing more often," she said, making him chuckle.

"There are a few things I wouldn't mind doing," he said, giving her a suggestive smirk as she frowned at him.

"No," she growled, narrowing her eyes at him.

He chuckled again, pulling her tighter against his body, "I know, I know. But when you're ready, I call dibs," he said, laughing as she smacked his chest.

"You'll get nothing!" she hissed, smiling despite herself as they danced the rest of the night. 


	4. Valentine's Day 2019 (Kaidan)

Kaidan shifted nervously as he waited for Misty with the bouquet of flowers he had picked from the surrounding tundra of Whiterun. He had gone out hunting early that morning for something small for them to eat for breakfast but when the rabbits were a little scarce, he started picking flowers... and felt like an idiot for doing so. He sighed, taking a seat in one of the chairs that sat around the fire pit in the middle of Breezehome, his knee bouncing nervously as the fire crackled in the pit. He lifted the bouquet and looked at the tundra cotton, lavender, and random assortment of colored mountain flowers tied together with a piece of leather. He sighed again, letting his head fall back on the back of the chair as he slouched.  _What in Kyne's name am I doing?_ he thought, running his hand over his hair as he closed his eyes. He looked at the flowers again, turning them in the firelight before sighing and tossing them into the fire.  _She wouldn't like flowers from me._  Movement from the bedroom above him brought him to his feet as he turned toward the stairs and started up them. He smiled at the ruffled woman as she sat on the edge of the bed, her eyes still closed and her head drooping down with her chin against her chest. 

"Good morning, love," he said, getting a single-eyed glance from the half-asleep woman as he moved to sit next to her on the bed, "sleep well?"

"No," she said, her voice thick with sleep as she leaned against him, trying to wake up enough to get motivated to move. 

He draped his arm over her shoulders, putting a soft kiss against the side of her head as she yawned.

"How was hunting this morning?" she asked, sitting up and groaning as she got to her feet.

"Didn't get much," he said, watching her start to rifle through her drawers for something to wear. 

"That's weird. Whiterun has loads of game around it," she said, lifting a brown tunic from the drawer and pulling it over her head.

"Not what I was looking for," he said, getting to his feet, "I thought, maybe we could hunt together. Bring down one of those deer on the tundra."

Misty furrowed her brow and turned to give him a raised eyebrow, "you couldn't do that without me?"

Kaidan shrugged, "I thought you would enjoy it a little," he said, starting to feel like an idiot for not just bringing back a deer.

Misty yawned again and nodded, "alright, but I ain't doing shit before we get something to eat," she said, stepping into her boots.

* * *

Misty yawned again, laying her head down on the table with her eyes closed as they waited for Saadia to bring their breakfast. 

"If you don't want to go, you don't have to," Kaidan offered, for the fifth time since sitting down.

Misty lifted her head, giving him an annoyed look through narrowed eyes before yawning again, "no. You said you wanted to hunt together, so that's what we're doing."

Kaidan sighed, leaning back in his chair as he watched her snooze on the table. It had been a long time since she had any kind of break from fighting dragons, draugr, wildlife, and bandits and he almost felt bad for asking her to hunt with him, but the only other thing he could think to do was pick her another bouquet of flowers. He frowned at his tankard,  _She wouldn't want flowers from me,_ he told himself again as he raised the tankard to his lips. He glanced at the doors of the Bannered Mare as they opened and furrowed his brow at the two brutish Companions and blue khajiit that walked in, laughing and being loud, as they usually were. Well, the two brutes were, anyway. 

"Misty!" the khajiit called out, lifting Misty's head slightly before she sat up, giving the three a smile as they joined, "good morning, my friend. 

"Morning, Ini," she greeted, looking a little more lively.

"Did you sleep well, Messy?" Farkas asked as he took a seat right next to her, scooting close enough for him to wrap his arm around her shoulders in a half hug.

"Not really, but I think that's just trying to sleep in Skyrim," she said, getting a chuckle from the large brute.

Saadia brought Kaidan and Misty's food, setting it in front of them as the other three ordered their breakfast.

"So, what are you two up to?" Sirius asked, giving them a bright smile.

"Nothing much," Kaidan said, mentally preparing for the inevitable.

"We're heading out on the tundra to hunt," Misty said, giving Sirius a smile.

"Hunting, huh? Sounds like fun," Inigo said, smiling at Kaidan.

Kaidan sighed, his eyes moving to Misty as he waited for it.

"You guys wanna come along?" she asked, forcing Kaidan to stifle a groan as she looked at him with pleading eyes, "you don't mind, do you, Kai?"

 _Yes, I mind,_ he growled in his head, narrowing his eyes at the three over the rim of his tankard before sighing, "no, I don't mind," he forced out, giving Misty a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

She didn't seem to notice before giving him a smile, "awesome! This'll be so much fun!"

* * *

Kaidan frowned at Sirius and Farkas giving chase to the deer that the two made him miss, the brutes saying something to draw Misty's attention away from him and his near perfect shot, distracting him enough to just miss the deer. He, Misty and Inigo ran after them, Inigo and Kaidan nocking another arrow and trying to aim while running. The deer lead them almost completely across the tundra, forcing them to give up and leaving them winded. Misty leaned over her knees, trying to catch her breath as Kaidan turned to scowl at the two Companions as they headed back to them, both smiling like the idiots they were. 

"What's with the sour face, Kai?" Sirius asked, giving him a raised eyebrow, "you look like you swallowed a bee."

Kaidan's scowl increased before he turned back toward Whiterun, almost stomping back toward the road like a child throwing a fit. 

"What's wrong with him?" Inigo asked as Misty stood straight.

"I don't know," she said, glancing at Farkas and Sirius before jogging to catch up to the quickly moving warrior.  _God, he's fast,_ she thought, having not really recovered from the deer chase. "Hey, Kai, wait up!"

He kept moving at the same pace, not slowing down as she jogged to keep up with him.

"Kai..." she gasped, furrowing her brow at the man, "Kai... Kaidan!" she snarled, grabbing onto his arm to turn him to look at her, "what the fuck is wrong with you?"

Kaidan scowled at her before jerking his arm free of her grip, "nothing," he growled, starting for Whiterun again.

She snorted, grabbing his arm and pulling him to a stop once more as she glared at him, "bullshit! We're not going anywhere before you tell me what's going on."

Kaidan scowled at her, clenching his jaw to try and keep his anger in check.  _You're not entirely mad at her, Kai. Don't take it out on her,_ he told himself before shaking his head, "I'm not having this argument with you here," he said, glancing toward Farkas, Sirius, and Inigo as they hurried to catch up.

Misty glanced at the three before turning back to Kaidan with narrowed eyes, "what's wrong with Inigo, Sirius, and Farkas?"

Kaidan sighed, "nothing... It's just..." 

Misty folded her arms over her chest, "just what?"

He sighed again, running his hand over his hair as he shook his head, "we'll talk about this later."

Misty shook her head, "no, we talk about this now. I don't do that 'later' bullshit."

Kaidan huffed, narrowing his crimson eyes at her for a few seconds before the other three joined them.

"Is everything alright?" Farkas asked, giving them a raised eyebrow.

"Yes," Kaidan said as Misty said no, leaving the two glaring at one another for a few more seconds. 

"You guys go on ahead. Kaidan and I need to talk about some things," she said, nodding toward the city as she kept her eyes locked on Kaidan. 

"Alright. Whistle if you need anything, okay?" Inigo said, before following the other two warriors away from Misty and Kaidan. 

She waited until the three were out of earshot before saying anything, "alright, Kai. Talk. What's wrong? You've been grumpier than usual all day. It's a little offputting."

Kaidan sighed, rubbing the back of his neck as he avoided looking at her. His eyes wandered toward the tower where the second dragon attack in Skyrim had taken place. He watched the guards moving back and forth and in and out of the tower, staying vigilant at their posts like good guardsmen. 

"Well?" Misty asked, bringing his attention back to her.

He sighed again and scuffed his boot on the ground, feeling embarrassed and frustrated, "I know that you enjoy spending time with everyone, but I was hoping..." he trailed off, becoming more uncomfortable as she stared at him.

Misty tilted her head slightly, giving his embarrassment a raised eyebrow before smiling, "Kai, you know you can talk to me about anything, right?"

Kaidan stared at her for a few seconds before nodding, "I know, it's just that... well... You were talking the other day about a holiday from your world and I thought..." he paused again, feeling his cheeks turning pink in the setting sun, "well, I wanted to do something special for you. Just the two of us."

Misty blinked at him a couple of times before thinking about it, "holiday from my world?" she furrowed her brow before it dawned on her, "Valentine's day?"

Kaidan nodded, not trusting that he wouldn't embarrass himself farther. Misty's laugh made him frown, "what's so funny?"

"You could have just picked me some flowers or something. That's the more traditional thing to give, Kai. Flowers and chocolates," she said, grinning at him as his eye twitched in annoyance. 

"Serious?" he growled, suddenly feeling like a complete idiot, "I thought you wouldn't want flowers from me."

Misty chuckled, "why not? I like flowers."

"From your children it's cute. From a grown man..." 

She cut him off with a head shake, "it's sweet and romantic," she said, smiling at him with sparkling eyes, "did you pick me flowers?"

Kaidan shuffled his feet, shifting the quiver and bow on his back before giving her an apologetic look.

Misty chuckled at the crease between his brow before tilting her head slightly, "let me guess. You threw them away."

"Burned them, actually," he said, rubbing the back of his neck, "you really would have liked them?"

Misty rolled her eyes, "I like anything someone gives me as a gift. Within reason, of course," she said, smiling at his embarrassment, "you really thought I wouldn't like them?"

Kaidan nodded, "not coming from me," he said, glancing off toward the tower once again with his arms folded over his chest. 

"I don't expect the fanciest things, Kai. Especially while in Skyrim. Flowers would have been fine," she said, touching his arm to bring his attention down to her, "it's fine. I don't need anything special and if you wanted to spend time with it being just the two of us, you could have just told me no on inviting Sirius, Farkas, and Inigo. They wouldn't have cared."

Kaidan sighed, lowering his arms to wrap around her waist as she wrapped her arms around his neck, "I know, but you gave me that look with those eyes and I just... I couldn't tell you no."

Misty gave him a raised eyebrow, "you tell me no all the time," she said, narrowing her eyes in annoyance. 

Kaidan smirked, "not as much as you think," he said, pulling her against his chest as he put his forehead against her's and closed his eyes, feeling the woman in his arms as a cool breeze blew across them. Her hair tickled his cheek and made him smile as she sighed a small, content sigh. "I'll pick you flowers next time, love. I honestly thought you expected something else from me."

"What would I expect from you? I mean, really, Kai. You've got my back in a fight and aren't trying to push yourself off on me like some of the others," she said, smiling up at him as she brushed a few loose strands of his raven black hair from his eyes, "what more could a girl ask for?"

Kaidan smiled down at her, brushing his nose against her's, "flowers."

Misty laughed, not helping it as she moved back slightly and motioned around them, "there's flowers everywhere."

He chuckled, raising her hands to brush a kiss across her knuckles before nodding toward the watchtower, "I think I have something better in mind."

Misty gave him a raised eyebrow, but let him lead her toward the tower without a fight or complaint. She smiled at the guards as they greeted her, most in and around Whiterun knew that she was the Dragonborn and, while that sometimes came in handy when someone in her party got into trouble, it could be annoying. He led her up the steps leading to the top of the tower and to the edge before pulling her up beside him and draping his arm over her shoulders. Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open slightly at the sight of Whiterun in the distance, bathed in the light of the setting sun. "Wow," she breathed, smiling at the sight, "it's beautiful."

"You said simple, right?" he asked, turning her to face him with what he deemed to be the most beautiful smile he had ever seen. 

"Of course," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck, "this is the best Valentine's Day, ever. Thank you for remembering."

Kaidan smiled, wrapping his arms around her waist as he kissed her forehead, "I will never forget anything you like as long as I live."


	5. Valentine's Day 2019 (Inigo)

"Inigo! Where are you taking me?" Misty asked, furrowing her brow as Inigo pulled her along behind him.

He glanced back, giving her a smile as he continued forward, "it's a surprise," he said, turning his attention back to where he was leading them.

She narrowed her eyes at the back of his head, glancing around as they moved up an overgrown path that led to a cave she knew was just ahead. "Wait. Inigo. There's Spriggans in there. I didn't bring my weapons," she said, starting to dig her heels into the ground.

Inigo chuckled, "I've already cleared them all out. It's perfectly safe," he said, stunning her for a second.

"By yourself?" she asked without thinking.

Inigo paused his moving, turning to give her an annoyed glare as his tail and ears twitched in agitation.

She smiled apologetically, "sorry, Ini. I keep forgetting that you guys can handle stuff like that on your own," she said, rubbing the back of her head.

"It is... alright. I honestly had a little trouble with them, but once I found my rhythm again, it was no big deal," he said, giving her hand a slight tug. 

Misty sighed, following the blue khajiit into the cave with only a passing thought of,  _isn't this how most people die in horror films?_

They moved between the leaning pillars of rock and under the bridge like fallen log. Inigo paused on the other side of it, putting his hand and arm against the bottom of the log in case Misty stood too soon, so she wouldn't bump her head on the rough bark.

"Careful," he said, taking her hand once again when she was on the other side of the fallen log, and leading her through the cavern.

Misty felt nervous about being in the cavern, even after Inigo said that he had cleared it out, she couldn't help but feel eyes on the back of her head, like they were being watched. She glanced around as Inigo lead her around the bend to the open area where the waterfall was before her eyes widened slightly and her mouth opened in awe. "Wow," she breathed, her eyes sparkling at the beautiful waterfall that fell into a clear cool pool, "it's so beautiful."

Inigo smiled, leading her around to a small area out of the way and near the waterfall. He stepped off to the side, motioning her toward the picnic he had set up earlier that day as a surprise, "Happy Valentine's Day!" he said, grinning at her as her hand went to her mouth and her eyes widened farther. 

"Oh my God, Inigo. This is amazing," she said, moving with him to sit on the blanket, "you really did all this for a holiday you don't really know anything about?"

Inigo snorted, popping the cork on the bottle of spiced wine he had delivered a few days earlier, "no, I did this for you," he said, pouring some of the wine into a fancy cup he had snagged from Mammoth Manor.

Misty gave him a confused blink, gently taking the offered cup of wine from him, "why?" she couldn't help but ask as he poured himself a cup.

Inigo frowned, setting the bottle down next to the blanket in case it spilled, "because you work hard to make sure everyone is happy and taken care of. It's your turn to relax for a little while," he said, raising his cup toward her, "to you, my friend. May we have many more adventures and many more times to chill out."

Misty chuckled at Inigo's use of her real-life slang, tapping the edge of her cup against his before taking a drink of the sweet and spiced liquid, "thank you, Inigo. This is nice," she said, looking at the waterfall and sighing, feeling months of stress and anxiety just fall away with the sounds of the cavern and flowing water. 

"Well, before we eat..." Inigo said, getting to his feet and stripping off his tunic in a single motion.

Misty choked on her sip of wine, not expecting him to just strip down without warning, and coughed to clear her lungs, "Inigo... *cough cough* what the fuck?"

Inigo gave her a raised eyebrow as he chuckled, "you don't expect me to swim fully clothed, do you?" he asked, dropping his tunic beside the blanket as he kicked off his boots and started to undo his pants.

Misty's eyes widened as she looked away, his face turning six shades of red, "so you're going to swim naked?"

Inigo rolled his eyes as he kicked his pants away, "of course not. I have under garments," he said, holding his hands out at his side, "see?" He furrowed his brows at Misty as she kept her gaze averted. He sighed, his tail twitching in agitation as he gave her an annoyed glare, "Melissa, you can look. I promise I am not naked."

Misty snorted, "I don't believe you," she said, concentrating on the stone wall. 

Inigo sighed, moved to stand in front of her with his arms crossed of his chest as one of his ears twitched, "I'm not swimming alone and I'm not moving either."

Misty sighed, closing her eyes to prepare for seeing Inigo in the nude before slowly opening one to look up at him. He frowned down at her as his ear flicked, making her smile coyly, "so you're not naked."

Inigo rolled his eyes, "I said I wasn't," he said, nodding toward the waterfall, "whenever you're ready, my friend."

Misty snorted, "some people we travel with have a tendency to tell me one thing and it be a complete lie to get me to look at or do something," she said, taking his offered hand to let him help her to her feet. 

Inigo chuckled, "true. Wolfe and Bishop are particularly bad at that," he said, stretching his shoulders as Misty pulled the tunic over her head and tossed it onto the blanket.

"How cold is the water?" Misty asked, knowing that even with the warm weather outside the cave, the water could be below freezing.

"We'll find out," Inigo said, his mouth suddenly dry when he turned to face her as she bent over to remove the trousers from her ankles. His eyes moved over her back, ass, thighs and all the way down her legs as he licked his lips. He cleared his throat as she stood straight, pulling the hair tie from her hair and giving it a fluff, spreading her reddish, golden locks around her shoulders and down her back in waves and curls. He reached out before he realized it, brushing his fingers through the strands and curling them around his fingers. Misty blinked at the gentle tug of her hair, turning to give Inigo a raised eyebrow as he smiled at her. "Your hair is beautiful, like the woman it's attached to."

Misty's eyes widened as her cheeks heated up before she cleared her throat and started for the small pool around the base of the waterfall, "now's as good a time as any to see if the water's cold," she said, concentrating on the water's surface.

Inigo chuckled as he followed her, taking a stance on the edge of the water as Misty took a few deep breaths before stepping into the water. He watched her nose and eyes wrinkle as she gritted her teeth, grinning as she gave a shiver. 

"God it's cold!" she hissed, stepping back onto the dry ground. 

Inigo smirked, "well, there's only one way to get used to it, my friend," he said, getting a confused blink from the woman before scooping her up.

Misty yelped, surprised more from Inigo's strength than anything, "Inigo! Put me down!" she shouted, shaking her head vigorously as he waded into the water, "no! Inigooooo! Don't do it! Don't you fucking do it! Inigo! Naahhhhhhhhh!" Her complaints were silenced as he tossed her in, the cold water shocking her. She pushed to the surface, coughing and sputtering to Inigo's laughter. "Fucking troll!" she snarled, splashing at the khajiit as she tried to rub the water from her eyes. 

He laughed, swimming around behind her and sliding his arms around her waist, "I am not a troll. I am Inigo the Brave," he said, hugging her from behind and nuzzling her neck, "I am also Inigo the lover," he purred against her neck, smirking at the red rising up her neck to her face. 

"Inigo the troll," she growled, trying to keep her embarrassment in check as his chuckle vibrated down her spine, leaving a pleasant heat in her chest. 

He sighed, turning her to face him with his hands on her hips as he smiled down at the red-faced woman frowning up at him, "don't be mad. You would have done the same to me," he said, grinning at her as she scowled at him. 

"I can't lift you, jerk," she growled, giving his chest a shove.

Usually, Inigo would take a step back with the shove, giving her the illusion that she was stronger than him, but this time, he barely budged and just held her hips between his hands. She narrowed her eyes at him, making him chuckle as he pulled her into the front of his body, "not this time, Snapdragon. I'm not letting you get away that easily this time," he said, slipping his hands around to rest on her lower back.

She narrowed her eyes at him as he smiled before glancing toward the picnic he had set up, "how do you plan on us drying off after this?" she asked, looking up at him as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

He smirked, giving a low chuckle as he held her tight, "I could think of a few ways, but we might have to get wet again to clean up. My way will make you very, very dirty," he said, his voice a low growl that made her shiver.

Misty swallowed, her eyes slightly wide as her heart beating hard in her chest making it hard to breathe. She licked her lips, unintentionally bringing Inigo's gaze down to her mouth. His fingers flexed against her back, sliding up her back to her shoulders as he pulled her in tighter, lowering his mouth to hers and giving her a gentle kiss. Misty blinked in surprise, half from the kiss that she honestly expected, and half from how gentle it was. Not that she didn't think Inigo could be gentle, but most of the men that kissed her weren't exactly gentle about anything. 

Inigo's ears drooped slightly as he pulled back, clearing his throat, "I am sorry. I... I couldn't help it. You are just so beautiful, I couldn't resist," he whispered, brushing his knuckles against her cheeks.

Misty's breath stopped in her lungs as she stared into Inigo's orange eyes, her cheeks warming up under his touch. She lowered her eyes to his chest, smiling as she shifted where she stood, "Inigo," she gushed, feeling both embarrassed and elated. She couldn't believe she could feel so... adored. 

Inigo smiled at her as he stepped back, "come on. Let's swim a little before we eat. I know you like to swim," he said, falling back into the water with a splash. 

Misty giggled, following him into the cloudy water without hesitation. 

* * *

After a while of swimming, splashing, and dunking, Misty and Inigo shuffled out of the pool, both a little chilly from the water. Inigo quickly piled all the food back into the basket, clearing the blanket so he could pick it up and wrap it around Misty, who gave him a confused raised eyebrow.

"What about you?" she asked, her lips looking a shade more purple than they should have been. 

"I am fine," he said, wrapping his arms around her and rubbing his hands up and down her back, "my fur keeps me warmer than you. I don't want to be the reason you get sick."

Misty smiled, laying her cheek against his warm furred chest and closing her eyes as he held her, rubbing his hands up and down her arms and back to help dry and warm her up. "You're so sweet, Inigo."

He shrugged, "I just don't want to get in any trouble from the rest of the group because you got sick."

Misty rolled her eyes and stood up straight, "so you're warming me up because you're selfish?"

He gave her a grin, "yes." She laughed, unable to help it as he snagged the basket and nodded toward a different area of the pool, farther away from the cool spray of the waterfall, "let's go over there. It looks warmer."

"If you're cold, we could share the blanket," Misty offered, holding her arms out with the blanket draped over.

Inigo shook his head as he led her around the pool, "I'm not that cold. Besides, you need it more than me. You have a tendency to get hypothermic."

Misty sighed, giving a reluctant nod as they found another spot to sit and eat. She kept the blanket wrapped around her as she sat down, giving Inigo a smile as he offered her another cup of spiced wine and a small plate of apples, bread, and cheese. "Thank you, Inigo. Seriously. This is the best date I've ever been on."

Inigo gave her a smile as he sat beside her before yawning and turning to lay his head in her lap. He grinned up at the annoyed looking woman before chuckling, "what?"

"Just like a cat. Always gotta be right in the middle of everything," she muttered, setting the plate down beside her hip as he chuckled.

He reached up, brushing the back of his fingers against her cheek with a lazy smile, "I hope we can do this more often in the future. You always look more beautiful when you smile. Like Mara herself," he said, as she took his hand. He curled his fingers around her hand, pulling it down to kiss the back of her palm and making her smile. 

"I wouldn't say that," she said, picking up a piece of apple and taking a bite. 

He smiled, "but it's true. You always so gentle and kind and compassionate to everyone," his ears lay back on his head in agitation, "even those that do not deserve it."

She knew he meant Bishop and rolled her eyes at his anger before holding the rest of the piece of apple over his mouth, "let's not think about Bishop. I'm having a good time for once," she sighed, dropping the piece of apple into his open mouth before stroking his ears. She was careful not to tug on the earrings hanging on his ears as she gently stroked and rubbed circles on and in his ears. She chuckled as his eyelids drooped and he started purring, his tail flicking happily off the edge of the area they were sitting on. She let out a content sigh, watching the khajiit snooze on her lap with a smile before looking up at the waterfall, feeling so peaceful that she thought she could just lay down and take a nap, "this really is the best Valentine's Day ever."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's an almost 3 hour video and ambient thing of Moss Mother Cavern and the waterfall. I almost fell asleep watching and listening to this. ^_^ soooo soothing.


End file.
